Examples Of Benjamin Franklin's 13 Virtues
“Live without committing any fault at any time”. This quote, which was said by Benjamin Franklin when explaining why he came up with his 13 virtues, is a quote that is very hard to live by. Ben Franklin admitted that he was never able to live the virtues perfectly, but felt he had become a better and happier person for having made the attempt. With this said, I decided that it was worth a try, hoping that maybe these virtues would make me think differently about things as well, and possibly make me a better person.
When this project was introduced, I had many doubts that I would actually be able to live up to Benjamin Franklin’s virtues. As I read through the list of 13, I was not quite sure what virtue’s I wanted to try and live by for a week.
The first virtue that was listed was Temperance, which means eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation. This virtue did not …show more content…
really pop out to me as one I was interested in trying to live by. Although temperance would have given me the confidence to start making improvements in other places in my life, I decided to keep looking.
The next virtue, Silence, which means: speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling. This virtue did pop out to me, and I began to consider whether or not this would be one of the virtues I would try to live by for the week. In the age we live in, there is constant noise and chatter, and Ben Franklin made silence one of his virtues to try and teach men when and when not to speak. People constantly are saying the wrong things, whether they realize it or not, and although Ben Franklin would not know about this, the use of technology to communicate has made the virtue of silence even that much harder. Maybe you have become more silent face to face, but everything changes when you use technology. Ben Franklin urged the use of patiencessness when describing the virtue of silence, implying that patience is the key to silence, and if you just wait a little bit longer, the words will no longer be needed. The 3rd Virtue is Order: Let all things have their
places; let each part of your business have its time. This virtue explains that in order for men to thrive, they need a certain order. However, taking on too much order would result in an imbalance in your life, because too many things would be changing; affecting your order once again. I kept skimming over the virtues, not really seeing one that I was very interested in challenging myself to face, when I came across the virtue of cleanliness: tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation. As I kept reading through the rest of Benjamin Franklin’s 13 virtues, I realized that if more people applied these virtues to there every day lives, more good things would come out for them. These virtues, I think, are defiantly worth living up to today. Some may be harder than others, and times have changed since Ben Franklin wrote these, but my experience has made me come to realize that by just changing the simple things you do it can actually make a big difference in the long run, whether people notice it or you just notice it yourself.
The first virtue I decided to challenge myself with was the virtue of silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. There are many examples in where you could use the virtue of silence, which was one of the main reasons I chose it. I wanted to be able to experience this virtue in many ways, and see which ways worked best for me. I decided to choose this virtue because I thought it could have a big impact on me, and the way I act, especially around my parents. Sometimes, I do not always know when to stop talking, and when not to say certain things, and that usually runs me into trouble. Also, my parents always yell at me for the use of my cell phone, and although Benjamin Franklin probably was not thinking about this when creating his virtues I decided that silence might help with that as well.
I began by applying the virtue of silence to my cell phone. I started by leaving my phone upstairs when sitting down for dinner; something I had never done before. I was hoping that by doing this, I would show in a way the virtue of silence, because I was not constantly on my cell phone and was able to communicate with my family better. I hoped that my parents would take note of this small act, and they in fact did. The first night I did not use my cell phone at the dinner table, my parents pointed it out, asking if I had lost my phone or something of that matter. I told them that I just decided it was better not to have it, explaining that I was trying to just make dinner more enjoyable for everyone. My parents were shocked, wondering what must have happened for those words to come out of my mouth. Every night as I came down for dinner, I made sure to leave my cell phone upstairs, knowing that it made my parents happy, and also made me happy because I was able to fulfill something I would never have thought to do before learning about this virtue. Although this is a broad way of using the virtue of silence, it was one that was most affective for me.
Another effective way I fulfilled the virtue of silence was by going by the quote my parents always tell me, “Do not speak unless you can improve the silence”. I never thought twice about what my parents said when they told me that, thinking they were just trying to restrict me even more, however, when thinking this saying over again after learning about the virtue of silence, I decided it would probably be a good aspect to try out. What this saying really means is that if you have nothing nice to say about something or someone just refrain from saying it—become silent in the matter. You might not think that this saying could have such an impact on just one week, but once I started going by that, I learned that it could. In even the small cases, where my mother or father would just say something to my sister, and I had the opportunity to say a rude remark or bring up something she would not like to talk about, I decided against it, knowing that it would just cause an argument between my sister and I or my parents and I. I have learned that it is sometimes better just to keep things to yourself, and to be completely honest, just after this one week, it seems as if I am becoming closer to my sister, because I have learned to not add in the stupid things that would just make her get mad at me, which has resulted in less fights and less reasons to not talk.
After experimenting with the virtue of silence, I have learned that by just changing a couple of small little things in my everyday life I have made a big difference in the relationship I have with my family. This week has really began to make me second guess why I did those certain things before, because I have now realized that by just cutting out two small things, and following the virtue of silence I have improved the relationship with my family; something that probably never would have happened if it were not for this week.
The second virtue I picked was the virtue of cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes or habitation. While reading about this virtue, I had an ongoing question of whether or not such a changing concept can really be a virtue, and if it still could be one in the time period we are living in. After contemplation, I decided that it could be a virtue even though the standard of cleanliness may vary from time period to time period. I decided to pick the virtue of cleanliness because all in all, Cleanliness makes you feel good. Regardless of whether the feeling is built in, or created by social conditioning, keeping your body, clothes, and home clean feels undeniably great. A hot shower, your favorite clean shirt, and a well-organized house makes you feel ready to take on the world.
My room for one is something that I never take pride in cleaning. I decided that in order to fulfill the virtue of cleanliness I had to start off by cleaning my room. It took me hours to clean my room, but after it was all finished, I felt very accomplished, knowing that it would feel great to wake up in the morning and not have to trip over all of the heaps of clothes covering the floor. What I did not realize until my room was clean, was that I was able to focus more on my homework and work that had to be done when I was in a clean environment. This past week, I was able to get my homework done quicker, which enabled me more free time, and an earlier bedtime. After realizing how this virtue helped me, I was more welcome to the idea of cleaning other things that would help me to stay more organized. I started off by cleaning out my soccer bag, something I had not done since the start of the season, which was in August. It took me a while to clean everything out, and I realized that I did not even need half of the things that were in my bag at the time. Waking up the next morning, it was much easier to see what I needed to pack for practice, and what I already had in my bag. After seeing how much quicker it was to pack my soccer things in the morning, I decided to clean out my school bag as well; knowing that was a mess as well. I cleared many things out of that bag that I no longer needed, and I was able to pack my books easier, and know what I needed for the next day.
Although the bags were small things in the big picture, the virtue of cleanliness helped me out and made it much easier to pack my things in the morning. Before this weekend, I never had had the time to pack my things, just shoving whatever I could find in my bags, but after they were clean, it was easier to see what I needed, and I did not forget anything for both school and soccer this week; something that regularly happened to me when it came to soccer.
I came to realize that I was not as stressed out this week. There is a natural connection, some say, between the order and cleanliness of your environment and your state of mind. I realized that clutter has weighed me down, and when I am free of it I am no longer weighed down, and things are easier accomplished.
Although I was not able to “live without any fault at any time” this past week, I felt that the two virtues I picked, Silence and Cleanliness, really did help me to live with less fault. I was able to build better relationships with my family, and learned what small things can do to relieve little bits of stress in your life. Without experimenting with these two virtues, I would have never accomplished some of the things I did, and although that sounds silly, I truly believe that if more people lived by Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues, they would have a better more improved life. I know that I am going to keep trying to live through the virtues of Benjamin Franklin, and keep trying to take on new ones, because in the long run, I know they will benefit me as well as the people around me.
When this project was introduced, I had many doubts that I would actually be able to live up to Benjamin Franklin’s virtues. As I read through the list of 13, I was not quite sure what virtue’s I wanted to try and live by for a week.
The first virtue that was listed was Temperance, which means eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation. This virtue did not …show more content…
really pop out to me as one I was interested in trying to live by. Although temperance would have given me the confidence to start making improvements in other places in my life, I decided to keep looking.
The next virtue, Silence, which means: speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling. This virtue did pop out to me, and I began to consider whether or not this would be one of the virtues I would try to live by for the week. In the age we live in, there is constant noise and chatter, and Ben Franklin made silence one of his virtues to try and teach men when and when not to speak. People constantly are saying the wrong things, whether they realize it or not, and although Ben Franklin would not know about this, the use of technology to communicate has made the virtue of silence even that much harder. Maybe you have become more silent face to face, but everything changes when you use technology. Ben Franklin urged the use of patiencessness when describing the virtue of silence, implying that patience is the key to silence, and if you just wait a little bit longer, the words will no longer be needed. The 3rd Virtue is Order: Let all things have their
places; let each part of your business have its time. This virtue explains that in order for men to thrive, they need a certain order. However, taking on too much order would result in an imbalance in your life, because too many things would be changing; affecting your order once again. I kept skimming over the virtues, not really seeing one that I was very interested in challenging myself to face, when I came across the virtue of cleanliness: tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation. As I kept reading through the rest of Benjamin Franklin’s 13 virtues, I realized that if more people applied these virtues to there every day lives, more good things would come out for them. These virtues, I think, are defiantly worth living up to today. Some may be harder than others, and times have changed since Ben Franklin wrote these, but my experience has made me come to realize that by just changing the simple things you do it can actually make a big difference in the long run, whether people notice it or you just notice it yourself.
The first virtue I decided to challenge myself with was the virtue of silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. There are many examples in where you could use the virtue of silence, which was one of the main reasons I chose it. I wanted to be able to experience this virtue in many ways, and see which ways worked best for me. I decided to choose this virtue because I thought it could have a big impact on me, and the way I act, especially around my parents. Sometimes, I do not always know when to stop talking, and when not to say certain things, and that usually runs me into trouble. Also, my parents always yell at me for the use of my cell phone, and although Benjamin Franklin probably was not thinking about this when creating his virtues I decided that silence might help with that as well.
I began by applying the virtue of silence to my cell phone. I started by leaving my phone upstairs when sitting down for dinner; something I had never done before. I was hoping that by doing this, I would show in a way the virtue of silence, because I was not constantly on my cell phone and was able to communicate with my family better. I hoped that my parents would take note of this small act, and they in fact did. The first night I did not use my cell phone at the dinner table, my parents pointed it out, asking if I had lost my phone or something of that matter. I told them that I just decided it was better not to have it, explaining that I was trying to just make dinner more enjoyable for everyone. My parents were shocked, wondering what must have happened for those words to come out of my mouth. Every night as I came down for dinner, I made sure to leave my cell phone upstairs, knowing that it made my parents happy, and also made me happy because I was able to fulfill something I would never have thought to do before learning about this virtue. Although this is a broad way of using the virtue of silence, it was one that was most affective for me.
Another effective way I fulfilled the virtue of silence was by going by the quote my parents always tell me, “Do not speak unless you can improve the silence”. I never thought twice about what my parents said when they told me that, thinking they were just trying to restrict me even more, however, when thinking this saying over again after learning about the virtue of silence, I decided it would probably be a good aspect to try out. What this saying really means is that if you have nothing nice to say about something or someone just refrain from saying it—become silent in the matter. You might not think that this saying could have such an impact on just one week, but once I started going by that, I learned that it could. In even the small cases, where my mother or father would just say something to my sister, and I had the opportunity to say a rude remark or bring up something she would not like to talk about, I decided against it, knowing that it would just cause an argument between my sister and I or my parents and I. I have learned that it is sometimes better just to keep things to yourself, and to be completely honest, just after this one week, it seems as if I am becoming closer to my sister, because I have learned to not add in the stupid things that would just make her get mad at me, which has resulted in less fights and less reasons to not talk.
After experimenting with the virtue of silence, I have learned that by just changing a couple of small little things in my everyday life I have made a big difference in the relationship I have with my family. This week has really began to make me second guess why I did those certain things before, because I have now realized that by just cutting out two small things, and following the virtue of silence I have improved the relationship with my family; something that probably never would have happened if it were not for this week.
The second virtue I picked was the virtue of cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes or habitation. While reading about this virtue, I had an ongoing question of whether or not such a changing concept can really be a virtue, and if it still could be one in the time period we are living in. After contemplation, I decided that it could be a virtue even though the standard of cleanliness may vary from time period to time period. I decided to pick the virtue of cleanliness because all in all, Cleanliness makes you feel good. Regardless of whether the feeling is built in, or created by social conditioning, keeping your body, clothes, and home clean feels undeniably great. A hot shower, your favorite clean shirt, and a well-organized house makes you feel ready to take on the world.
My room for one is something that I never take pride in cleaning. I decided that in order to fulfill the virtue of cleanliness I had to start off by cleaning my room. It took me hours to clean my room, but after it was all finished, I felt very accomplished, knowing that it would feel great to wake up in the morning and not have to trip over all of the heaps of clothes covering the floor. What I did not realize until my room was clean, was that I was able to focus more on my homework and work that had to be done when I was in a clean environment. This past week, I was able to get my homework done quicker, which enabled me more free time, and an earlier bedtime. After realizing how this virtue helped me, I was more welcome to the idea of cleaning other things that would help me to stay more organized. I started off by cleaning out my soccer bag, something I had not done since the start of the season, which was in August. It took me a while to clean everything out, and I realized that I did not even need half of the things that were in my bag at the time. Waking up the next morning, it was much easier to see what I needed to pack for practice, and what I already had in my bag. After seeing how much quicker it was to pack my soccer things in the morning, I decided to clean out my school bag as well; knowing that was a mess as well. I cleared many things out of that bag that I no longer needed, and I was able to pack my books easier, and know what I needed for the next day.
Although the bags were small things in the big picture, the virtue of cleanliness helped me out and made it much easier to pack my things in the morning. Before this weekend, I never had had the time to pack my things, just shoving whatever I could find in my bags, but after they were clean, it was easier to see what I needed, and I did not forget anything for both school and soccer this week; something that regularly happened to me when it came to soccer.
I came to realize that I was not as stressed out this week. There is a natural connection, some say, between the order and cleanliness of your environment and your state of mind. I realized that clutter has weighed me down, and when I am free of it I am no longer weighed down, and things are easier accomplished.
Although I was not able to “live without any fault at any time” this past week, I felt that the two virtues I picked, Silence and Cleanliness, really did help me to live with less fault. I was able to build better relationships with my family, and learned what small things can do to relieve little bits of stress in your life. Without experimenting with these two virtues, I would have never accomplished some of the things I did, and although that sounds silly, I truly believe that if more people lived by Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues, they would have a better more improved life. I know that I am going to keep trying to live through the virtues of Benjamin Franklin, and keep trying to take on new ones, because in the long run, I know they will benefit me as well as the people around me.